11-11-2020
Planning Inspectorate
Appeal Ref: APP/K2610/W/19/3239986
A Statement from Brundall Parish Council Chairman, Kevin Wilkins:
As you have seen, we have been informed today of the Planning Inspector’s decision to allow the QL appeal regarding development on land East of the Memorial Hall.
This is a hugely disappointing outcome for the village and our community. However, this is now a binding decision by the Planning Inspectorate to allow planning permission for the site. In my view, there is nothing further that we, as a Parish Council, nor members of Brundall Future and the local community, could have done to oppose the application at Broadland Planning Committee or the Appeal Hearing. I have been greatly impressed with the energy and determination which has been put in to preparing representations at the various stages of the planning process by the community and I repeat my thanks to Sharon, as Parish Clerk, for all the effort she has put into preparing the material for the Parish Council to present throughout the process. We could not have reasonably done any more as a community to oppose the application.
Putting aside my disappointment with the decision, we now need to move forward as a Parish Council and village community. We do now have the certainty that this piece of land will be developed, and although the Section 106 agreement has yet to be finalized, we are expecting land to be gifted of 3ha for formal / informal recreational use, and a further 7ha alongside the Witton Run. This will provide a green corridor from Berryfields to Cremer’s Meadow. Funding will be linked to both pieces of recreational land for initial development and some ongoing maintenance.
There will be considerable further work and discussion to develop options for the land to enhance our current (very limited) recreational provision in the village. We must ensure that the recreational provision on Land East of the Memorial Hall is complementary to the Sports Hub and our other provision. Now that we have clarity regarding the future of Land East we can move forward and the difficult ‘what if’ scenarios we have been trying to work with for the past few years have finally become certainties.
The outcome of the appeal will resonate through the village and we may be asked what further action can be taken to oppose the development. In my understanding, there is nothing further that can be done following the Planning Inspectorate’s decision and the potential for a judicial review is very unlikely to be supported or succeed.
Therefore, I believe that as a Parish Council and village community we now need to move forward and deliver the very best recreational opportunities we can with both the Sports Hub and on the land we expect to be gifted as part of the QL development.
